Lever actuated tire bead loosening device



Jan. 26, 1954 D. A. ZAFFINA LEVER ACTUATED TIRE BEAD LOOSENING DEVICE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1952 Dominic A. 20 ffina INVENTOR. @6101.

D. A. ZAFFINA LEVER ACTUATED TIRE BEAD LOOSENING DEVICE Jan. 26,- 1954 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan 22. 1952 Dominic A. Zaffina INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 26, 1954 LEVER. ,ACTUAT-ED TIRE .BEAD LOOSENING DEVIGEDominic A. Zafiina; Pontiac, Mich eass'ignor to :z said Dominic :A..;Zaffina and Josephine F. :Zaf- .fina, Pontiac, Mich., jointlyApplication January 22, 1952., Serial .No.?261,563

1I..Claim.1 CL 157- 126 l "My invention relates to improvementsin de"vices for freeing the beadportionsofa-pneumatic 5 tire" from theconventional tire retaining rim preparatory to removingzthe tire fromthe rim.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a lever operateddevice-for easily freeing the head portions of such a tire from theflanged e'dges of atire retaining rim without "danger of -the deviceslipping and damaging the side Walls of the tire or injuring theoperator.

Another object is to provide a device for the above purposes in which 'asingle-compression lever is operated .to-exert pressure downwardly-against'the-side wall ofthe' tire at the bead-porx'tion andtoslidebetween the rim flangeand the bead portion to breakithe adhesionbetween said flange and" bead portion quickly andeasily.

Still another object is to provide a device for the above purposes whichis simple in construction;- easy to operate; readily portableysafe andcomparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other and subordinateobjects, within thepurview .of my invention,together with the precise nature of .my improvementswillbe readily.understood when the succeeding. descriptionwand .claim, are read withreference to the drawings accompanying and forming-apart of thisspecification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, partly in transverse section,illustrating my improved device with the parts positioned ready for useagainst one side of a tire adjacent to the bead portion;

Figure 2 is a similar view of the parts in the position assumed therebyafter the bead portion of the tire has been freed;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view in plan;

Figure 4 is a view in rear elevation;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view in section taken on the line 55 of Figure2 and drawn to a larger scale, and

Figure 6 is a view in perspective of the compression lever drawn to alarger scale.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, my improved device, in theillustrated embodiment thereof, comprises an elongated, tapered, baseframe I of a suitable length for positioning on a floor, or the like,under a, tire 2 and rim 3 to extend endwise radially thereof smaller endinnermost and support said tire and rim at one side thereof with thelarger end 4 of the frame extending outwardly beyond the tire 2.

The frame I is preferably formed oi' a single piece of 'bar metal. Anarcuate cross-member 5 T011 top; of the frame I and suitablyfixedthereto is adapted tofit'under'and supportgthe'rimteo as'to'prevent the tire'2 fromengagingtheframe I .and being injured thereby. Ametal post 6v is suitably'fixed, to the larger :end '4 of .theiframe I.in the longitudinal center .of'said frame'with an upper end Icurvingqout- "wardlyof theflarger end '4of'the,.frame I and providedwith a'lateral stop lug 8. forajpurpose presently seen.

A bifurcated tire vcompressinglever; I0 pivotally and slidably mountedon the posti, adjacent the. upper endof said post, and in agmanner:presently'described, for. vertical swingingcdown- 'wardly against theuppermost side wallofflthe tire "adjacent the beadportion .Il,andi'forwe'nd- Slotted bars I 3 forms. the pivotal .and .slidablemounting for said lever I 0.. .,As-Wi11.-becndted, the Qlever. I0 isconstructed and,arranged td-incline downwardly from the post 6 over thetire 2 when engaged with the uppermost side wall of said tire. The leverIII is provided on the other end of the bar I2 with a wide, fiat memberI! for engagement with the sidewall of the tire 2 and which is formedwith a scalloped front edge providing a central lug I8 on said member I!and a pair of lugs I9 on said member at opposite sides of the lug I 8set back from the lug I 8 so that the same are shorter than the lug I8and serve a purpose presently described.

A hand lever 20 i provided for swinging the compression lever I0, saidhand lever 20 having a bifurcated end 2| pivoted on the bolt I 5forvertical swinging of said lever 20 into and from overlying relation tothe base frame I and tire 2.

A link 23 depending from the hand lever 20 is pivoted at one end in thebifurcated end of said lever 20, as at 24, with its other end pivoted,as at 25 between a pair of ears 26 on the bar I2 of the lever IIIbetween the slots I6 and said flat member I], said link operativelyconnecting the hand lever 20 to the compression lever I0 so thatvertical swinging of the hand lever 20 into and from overlyingrelationto the base frame I and tire 2 will swing the compression leverdownwardly and upwardly. swinging movement of the hand lever 20 fromoverlying position relaof the end lever 20 resting against the stop lug8..

The base frame I, and the tire 2 and rim 3 are next arranged, in anyconvenient manner, so that said frame I underlies the tire 2 and rim 3with the cross-member 5 supporting the rim 3 and the tire resting on itsopposite side on a floor, or the like. The hand lever 20 is now swunginto overlying relation to the base frame I and wardly against theuppermost side wall of the tire 2, said lever I0 being manually slidduring .this operation to position the pressure member I'I adjacent theuppermost bead portion I I. The

. hand lever 20 is then pressed downwardly to exert pressure against thecompression lever I0 through link 23 and thereby cause said portion ITto press the bead portion II adjacent thereto downwardly away from therim 3, said lever I0 sliding under thepressure exerted thereagainst.under the rim flange 21 to facilitate freeing the rim portion from saidrim flange. As soon as the pressure member I! exerts sufiicient'pressureagainst the side wall of the tire adjacent the bead portion I I toprovide for the longer lug I8 entering between the rim flange Z'I andthebead portion II, the compression lever slides toward the rim 3 and saidlug I8 enters between said flange and bead portion followed by the lugsI9 lso that the bead portion II is freed from said rim flange completelyfirst at one point and then at closely adjacent point upon oppositesides of the point first freed. As will be seen, after the bead portionis freed in the manner described, the compression lever during furtherdownward swinging thereof will slide into the rim 3, as shown in Figure2v and said rim will thereby stop further downward swinging of saidlever II). of course the tire 2 and rim 3 must be rotated so that thebead portion I I may be freed all around 4- the tire, and said tire theninverted for freeing the bead portion of the other side of the tire.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to impart a clearunderstanding of my invention, without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of-modification, without departing from the inventive concept, and rightis herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of theappended claim.

Having described my invention, claimed as new is:

In a device for freeing the bead portion of a tire from the flanged edgeof a rim, a base frame for positioning under a horizontally disposedtire what is and rim at one side thereof to support the same,

a post rising from said base outwardly of the tire 2 to swing thecompression lever I0 downtire, a tire compression lever pivoted adjacentone end on said post for swinging into downwardly inclined position toengage its other end with the uppermostside wall of the tire adjacentthe bead portion thereof, a hand lever pivoted on the pivot of saidcompression lever for downward pression lever to its pivot for endwisesliding downwardly and inwardly under the rim flange upon downwardmovement of the hand lever.

DOMINIC A. ZAFFINA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,311,789 Taylor Feb. 23, 1943 2,433,113 I Graves et al Dec.23, 1947 2,449,960 Toles Sept. 21, 1948 2,474,926 York July 5, 1949'2,534,950 Butterfield et al. Dec. 19, 1950

